Kane @ WWE Live Event, Birmingham 09/11/16

Next year, 2017 will mark the 20 year anniversary of when Kane first entered the WWE ring and made an impact that is still felt to this day. After 20 years travelling the world with WWE, whilst others have come and gone, Kane has been a constant during that whole period. Sure there have been little vacations for injuries and filming movies, but you can always be sure of one thing, you can trust in Kane.

We caught up with Kane in a hotel conference room ahead of WWE’s visit to Birmingham’s Genting Arena.

The grandest of hotels, the highest levels of security and the longest queue of fans surrounding the building… And we were invited in…

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We’re used to interviewing bands, but the question is still relevant. How’s tour going?

It’s good, it’s good!

I suppose it is just a constant tour isn’t it?

This is a little different though, because usually we don’t go every night.

Next year will be 20 years of Kane, are you planning anything special, do you want to do anything special?

I didn’t realise it was going to be 20 years! So no I don’t have anything special planned.

Is there one person you’d like to mark 20 years with? One last big run?

I think it would be really cool to be able to talk about this as another Undertaker and Kane thing, I think especially together as a tag-team would be really cool. Who knows?

I suppose it’s one of those things that isn’t always up to you, what happens, happens ?

If I had my way about a lot of things I’d be 50 time World Champion.

I’ve been back and watched a lot of your matched on the network and one of the matches that stood out in terms of physicality was the Inferno match with MVP. During the match the commentary team make a lot of references to the athleticism needed to compete in that match, is it a struggle and as hard to breathe as they made out?

The Inferno match? Yeah, it’s stressful because you are in a BBQ pit! So it is very stressful. I think ever since we’ve told people that what we do is entertainment, people really dismiss the athletic side of things, and they don’t take into account that it is an athletic endeavour. You see guys doing tremendous things, especially some of the smaller guys, you wouldn’t think a human being could do some of the things they do, and you also see guys whose body takes a lot of punishment. Even for a guy like me, I don’t think your average person is going to be able to go out into a wrestling ring and do the things I do, so in that respect I think that everything we do is a feat of athleticism. I think that over the years, that has really been dismissed, and they don’t take into account that the reason it looks so effortless is because the guys are such great athletes and can make it look effortless.

Do you think we are heading into a new era in that during the 90s the curtain was still there, so then there was this reality era, but now you are seeing show’s like Breaking Ground, where you are seeing the hard work that goes in and the athleticism. Is there going to be a new appreciation of the athletic side of things?

I think it just depends on what the demographic is, I think your more in-tune fan is already like that, they know what goes on but I think it is more your casual observer who goes “eh, whatever, anyone can do that”. I guess there are two ways to look at when fans get a look behind the scenes, because on the one hand what we do is a lot of illusion so you don’t want to constantly be pointing out the wires to people, on the other hand I do think it does draw people in more because they see the human drama behind it, especially when you see something like Breaking Ground and the real struggle that people put in to get into this business. When I first started I was driving hundreds of miles and making no money, just to get the experience to get a shot, it’s the same with a lot of the guys out there right now and even when you are here, we are still on the road constantly we don’t have an off season, so the determination to constantly put out a good product is something I’m certainly proud of and as more things come out, the more people will go “these people work really hard at what they do”.

You’ve appeared in many stipulations, if there is one you’d like to be remembered for which would it be? You’ve done Hell in a Cell, you’ve done Inferno matches...

It’s probably the Inferno, when we did the first one WWE had never done anything like that, it’s unique and it’s something you can’t do all the time.

And it is Kane! If you go back and watch an Inferno match, it’s going to be one with Kane.

Exactly, so yeah it would be that.

The persona of Kane, there were other personas before you were given Kane. At what point did you realise it was going to stick, or was there a point you thought it wasn’t going to work because you’d already been through a few personas.

Really, once I learnt I was going to be working with the Undertaker, I knew it was going to be successful one way or another, but I knew I was going to have to hold up my end. I thought the opportunity was tremendous, and it really was up to me to make it work, I was given something on a silver platter, so I think right off the bat I knew it could be a really big deal.

I understood the different factors in what would make something successful at that point, I realised that the company was extremely invested which of course helped as well.

It was a big spotlight to have, to come out in one of the biggest matches of all time.

It was enormous, I was frankly very nervous that night. I was going to be out there at the end of the night, and they were going to be talking about Kane and especially when you have Undertaker and Shawn Michaels in what was really their first match, and a match specifically designed for them, the Hell in a Cell match, the fact that at the end of the night the talking point would be Kane.

Some big boots to fill?

Yeah, I was a little anxious.

Royal Rumble isn’t a million miles away, and you still hold the record for most overall eliminations. Do you see that record being matched, and is there anyone you see doing it?

I think a lot of guys have the potential, in the end that ones just straight longevity and how long you are here. I didn’t think the most eliminations in one Rumble match would be broken, but Roman Reigns broke that. Shawn Michaels held the record before I beat it, so I do think it is just a matter of longevity, in that respect I think it is going to be pretty difficult to break that record.

Something else I wanted to ask you about was winning the title at King of the Ring. Watching Undertaker vs Mick in the Hell in a Cell, and then having to follow that. Was there a lot of pressure coming out, or was it as apparent at the time of what the match would mean?

I don’t think as we were watching it, we felt that match was going to be as historic as it was. I was just glad that Mick was okay more than anything, because he was actually involved in our match and that was one of the questions “Is Mick going to be able to come back out here”.

So it didn’t dampen your experience of winning the title?

No, but I tell you what was really cool about that whole experience was the next night. A lot of people say “well you only held the title for one night”, I won the title in Pittsburgh at King of the Ring, and then next night we were in Cleveland for a Monday Night RAW taping and the atmosphere in Cleveland was electric, it was off the chart. That was one of the those things that felt to me like it helped give the company a huge boost, that Austin had lost the title and he comes and wins it right back, that the crowd was more electric than any crowd I remember in my whole career. Win, lose or draw, nothing is it more important than the crowd experience, and that night for the people in Cleveland and the WWE universe it was off the chart. Maybe it wasn’t so much winning the title, as losing it the next night that you remember.

One last question, as a big Horror fan. Will we ever see you back as Jacob Goodnight?

I don’t know, we’ll have to see. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes in making movies, so I have no idea.

Is the rumour true that in one version of the script the Undertaker was going to make a cameo?

Early on that’s the rumour I heard too.

But you never saw that script?

No, I never saw that script but you know how it goes, there are ten-thousand incarnations and people throwing stuff against the wall and seeing what sticks. But I did hear about it at one point.

I think I head it on a podcast with the Soska sisters. What’s it like working with those girls, because they seem like incredible film-makers?

They’re great, what’s really unique about them is that they have this mental link. One can be on the floor and the other is watching the scene, and the one doesn’t even tell the other one, but she’ll tell everyone what needs to be done. I think that they compliment each other very well, and I had a terrific experience working with them.

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You can go back and watch some of Kane’s greatest hits on the WWE Network, and he’s also a part of the Smackdown Live roster, every Tuesday night on Sky.

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Conversation With - Kane